Burnout Variables and Monitoring Techniques By Farhad Roshanaie

By Farhad Roshanaie

The health of an athlete and their desire to practice and compete are the most important parts of a long-term developmental path. The coaches and parents are responsible to help and educate the athletes to recognize the fine line between adequate exertion of stress to improve their bodies and minds versus overstressing, which can result in burnout. It is noteworthy to mention that a well-recovered athlete adapts to stress from training, and this helps to reach the performance peak effectively. However, overtraining delays this process and can endanger athlete’s health or lead to withdrawal from athletic activities. Besides the coach’s observations, there are some other methods to monitor and measure physical and emotional stresses: 1. It’s important to do a weekly selfassessment. Some physical, mental, emotional and behavioral changes can be symptomatic of burnout. For example, fluctuations in mood, energy level, concentration, memory, eating habits and sleep pattern could be a sign of burnout. Since year 1996, high performance athletes at the Australian Institute of Sport use “Form 1 – Weekly Selfassessment Sheet”, you will see a number of variables that should be rated by the athlete on a daily basis. This is a simple and effective tool to help the athlete avoid burnout. 2. Weight is the other variable one should monitor. Any rapid weight loss may indicate dehydration and/or poor general health, or burnout that warrants to be addressed immediately. Every day after one wakes up, before eating and after using the restroom, one should record their weight in

“Form 2 - Resting Heart Rate and

Weight”. 3. Heart rate (HR) correlates with the intensity of the training and its toll on one’s body and mind. One should measure their resting HR after they wake up in the morning while still lying down in bed. There are three ways to measure one’s resting HR: 1- place two fingers lightly on the thumb side in the wrist, or 2- place two fingers lightly along the throat just to the side of the windpipe; in both methods one counts their HR for 10 seconds and multiply the number by six to get one’s resting HR per minute, 3- buying a HR monitor; this is a popular method to use in a variety of physical trainings. Every day after one wakes up, they should log their resting HR number in “Form 2 - Resting Heart Rate and Weight.” One notices a red flag when their resting HR is 15 percent above the normal. In this case one keeps the undertaken exercise minimal, if at all.

Unfortunately a lot of athletes get injured in the long run. Besides proper conditioning training, one should monitor their health condition before reaching the point of injury. If one is on the verge of burnout, they should take measures to address both physical and psychological health such as adjusting the volume and intensity of the training, improving sleep quality and time, meditating, listening to music, using breathing techniques, seeking psychotherapy, enjoying a massage, visualizing, adding social time or taking a vacation. These measures can help rejuvenate one’s mind and enhance one’s motivation to return to the court in a more optimal condition.

Farhad Roshanaie is a USPTA Competitive Junior Developmental Specialist, and a graduate from the USTA High Performance Coaching Program. He is a USPTA Elite Coach and a USPTA Professional Tester. Farhad has developed multiple top junior players; he coached in the US Open 2019 and the Australian Open 2020. As a former collegiate coach, he served NCAA D1 and D3 schools. He was born in Tehran, Iran, he was ranked number 1 in most of his junior career, and he still practices and competes. He studied Biomedical Engineering in Ilmenau, Germany, and currently lives in New York City.